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Hornaday, Piquet collide during M'ville practice

MARTINSVILLE, Va. -- Both trucks were able to return to the track; weather was partly to blame

Rain truncated Friday's Truck Series practice at Martinsville Speedway, but not before teammates Ron Hornaday and Nelson Piquet Jr. collided after the four-time series champion spun.

Hornaday's No. 33 Chevrolet suffered damage to its left rear bumper, while the No. 8 Chevy of Piquet wound up needing significant repairs to its right front fender. However, both trucks were able to return to the track before the weather turned sour again.

Hornaday turned the fastest lap of practice -- 95.583 mph -- while Piquet was shown as 19th out of the 38 trucks which made at least one lap during the session.

Weather was partly to blame, Hornaday said, as cold tires on a cold track created the situation.

"We had the truck too free right there," Hornaday said. "It was one of those things where I was trying to get a good lap in there, got in the gas and got loose."

* Watch: Hornaday spins, collects Piquet | Practice 1 Speeds

Piquet was just coming out of the corner and couldn't see Hornday's truck through the thick smoke.

"Everything was white in front of me," Piquet said. "I just braked and was very slow, and suddenly I touched him."

Hornaday apologized for creating a situation that wound up involving Piquet.

"That's my own fault there," Hornaday said. "I was trying to get it pointed the other way.

"It's just one of them incidents. You hate to see it."

Piquet took his truck back out for a couple of shakedown laps and pronounced it fit. However, he lamented losing so much on-track time.

"This is a track where I struggle," Piquet said. "It's a place where practice is important for us, so hopefully the weather gets better."

Hornaday is currently fourth in the standings with three races remaining, trailing Austin Dillon by 16 points. Piquet is third in the rookie standings, seven points behind Cole Whitt.

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